Lokesh Rahul brought up the winning runs for India with a six that also took him to a brilliant century against England.
Sent in to bat by India, England’s openers got off to a flying start, scoring at 10 to the over for the first five overs, when Jason Roy was bowled by Umesh Yadav for 30 off 20 balls. Opener Jos Buttler and Alex Hales moved the score along nicely to 95 in the 12th over when Hales was bowled by Kuldeep Yadav for eight.
This signalled an England collapse as Kuldeep took three more wickets to send the hosts stumbling to 117-6 in the 16th over. David Willey hit his first ball for six and helped to bring the innings back to a semblance of order, before Buttler became the seventh wicket to fall with the score on 141, after scoring 69 off 46 balls.
Kuldeep secured his five-for with the wicket of Buttler, caught by Virat Kohli at long-on.
England’s meagre 159-8 was all thanks to the Yadav’s superb bowling, with Umesh taking 2-21 and Kuldeep a sensational 5-24.
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In response, Shikhar Dhawan was bowled by Willey for four in the first over, which brought Rahul to the crease. The 26-year-old wrenched the initiative away from England with a blistering century off 54 balls (10 fours, five sixes, S/R 187.03), bringing his ton up with a six that also took his side to victory with 10 balls in hand.
Rahul received steady – if unspectacular – support from Rohit Sharma (32 off 30 balls) as the pair shared a 123-run stand for the second wicket, after which captain Kohli (20 off 22 balls) helped to see India through to a most comfortable victory.
Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
